Putin played down the move and pointed the finger at the West:“We are not going to succumb to militaristic frenzy and it appears that NATO would like to provoke a costly and futile arms race to ensure we divert our energy from solving our pressing problems of socio-economic development.”

He spoke of thawing relations with Turkey in deep freeze since Ankara downed a Russian jet near the Turkey-Syria border last November: “We have received an apology from Ankara for shooting down our aircraft. In the light of that we mean to take measures to restore bilateral cooperation.”

The Russian president commented on the UK’s Brexit vote saying market volatility would calm and it was time to see if Britain will uphold its democratic principals.